Easy Brown Sugar, Vanilla, Orange Cranberry Sauce 

Cranberry sauce is one of my favorite and easiest recipes to serve for Thanksgiving. I’ve made several variations of cranberry sauce including one of my former Nanny Family’s recipe of bourbon cranberry sauce,  but this recipe found on the sallybakingaddiction web site might be my favorite. 

You Will Need:

12 ounce bag cranberries, rinsed
3/4 cup (150g) water
1/4 cup (60ml) fresh orange juice (about 1/2 large orange)
3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

What to Do:

1. Zest the orange first, setting the zest aside, then cutting the orange for the juice. You need about half of a large orange for 1/4 cup juice. Juice the other half of the orange if you need more to yield 1/4 cup.
2. After rinsing the cranberries, set 1/2 cup cranberries aside. You will stir these in at the end for extra texture.
3. Combine the remaining cranberries, water, orange juice, and brown sugar together in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally as the mixture comes to a simmer. Once simmering, reduce heat to low-medium. While stirring occasionally, continue to cook until liquid has reduced and cranberries have burst and thickened, about 15 more minutes.
4. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup reserved cranberries, orange zest, and vanilla extract. Sauce will continue to thicken as it cools.
5. This sauce is excellent served warm or at room temperature. Cover and store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

References: 

Recipe from sallybakingaddiction
Photo by Stephanie Felzenberg